The Cree and Ojibway band under George Gordon signed Treaty 4 in 1874, and in 1876 their reserve was surveyed on the western edge of the Little Touchwood Hills, 61 km northwest of Fort Qu'Appelle, where they had already commenced farming. By 1884 half of the families belonging to the band were farming, and this development continued for many years. The Church of England located a mission on this reserve in 1886 under Reverend Gilbert Cook, and a school was opened - a full ten years after it was first requested by the band. The George Gordon Reserve boasts a modern medical clinic, an education centre, a computer centre, an arena and a day care, as well as the Gordon Retail Centre and the Buffalo Ranch Project. Programs that are offered to band members include the Residential School Recovery and Wellness Centre, Brighter Futures, and Gordon Social Development. Other community infrastructures involve band office, pre-fab plant, fire hall, teacherage, gymnasium, warehouse, water treatment plant, and machine shed. Gordon First Nation has a total membership of 2,788 people, 1,004 of whom live on the 14,946-ha reserve. In addition, the band has shares in the 37-ha Treaty 4 Reserve Grounds near Fort Qu'Appelle.
Christian Thompson